Migrants New York: NYC mayor announces $708M lawsuit against bus companies carrying migrants to city
NEW YORK -- New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced a lawsuit against 17 charter bus and transportation companies bringing migrants to the city.
The city is seeking $708 million to cover the costs incurred over the last 20 months for providing emergency shelter and services to migrants transported by the charter bus companies.
"New York City has and will always do our part to manage this humanitarian crisis, but we cannot bear the costs of reckless political ploys from the state of Texas alone," said Adams in a statement released Thursday. "Today, we are taking legal action against 17 companies that have taken part in Texas Governor Abbott's scheme to transport tens of thousands of migrants to New York City in an attempt to overwhelm our social services system."
Thursday's suit sets out to recoup the hundreds of millions to cover the costs for any of those migrants still in New York City's care, and costs for all those who are transported to New York City from Texas in the future as part of Gov. Abbott's plan.
"These companies have violated state law by not paying the cost of caring for these migrants, and that's why we are suing to recoup approximately $700 million already spent to care for migrants sent here in the last two years by Texas," Adams' statement continued. "Governor Abbott's continued use of migrants as political pawns is not only chaotic and inhumane but makes clear he puts politics over people. Today's lawsuit should serve as a warning to all those who break the law in this way."
Abbott released a statement Thursday evening, saying: "This lawsuit is baseless and deserves to be sanctioned. It's clear that Mayor Adams knows nothing about the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, or about the constitutional right to travel that has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court. Every migrant bused or flown to New York City did so voluntarily, after having been authorized by the Biden Administration to remain in the United States. As such, they have constitutional authority to travel across the country that Mayor Adams is interfering with. If the Mayor persists in this lawsuit, he may be held legally accountable for his violations."
